


The Story of a Christmas Elf

by w3llthatdidntwork



Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: Christmas, F/F, Person of Interest, shoot, shoot on a number, shootsecretsanta2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-01
Updated: 2020-01-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:21:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22060975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/w3llthatdidntwork/pseuds/w3llthatdidntwork
Summary: The store Shaw was working at was highly esteemed and went by the name Toy Castles. It always made it in New York’s top magazines for the holidays. Sometimes, it even made it in some holiday movies. A large part of that was due to the decorations. The other half was that all the competition went out of business.Most people didn’t buy toys in stores anymore if you thought about it logically. Online shopping was taking over but if you got creative with your thought process, well, some things didn’t add up. That’s what Root told her anyway. Shaw didn’t really care about the details.So, here Shaw was, a grown woman dressed as an elf in a toy store. She needed to keep this cover no matter how much she hated it...
Relationships: Root - Relationship, Sameen Shaw - Relationship, Shoot - Relationship
Comments: 7
Kudos: 27





	The Story of a Christmas Elf

Tree sap was sticky and plain out inconvenient. Sameen Shaw stood in the middle of the store and rubbed her hands on the front of her shirt, swearing under her breath. She caught a glimpse of herself in a mirror and glared at her reflection. One of her coworkers made eye contact through the mirror and promptly made a b-line in the other direction.

She had already made a reputation for herself. Most of the other employees at the toy store knew to stay away.

Her boss, the main store manager knew that she was supposed to be good at her job. Somehow she was recommended as a top decorator and was thought to have the precision of a surgeon when it came to details. That was coming from her references and her impressive portfolio thanks to Root and The Machine. Her actual decorating skills were mediocre at best.

The store needed all hands on deck for Christmas. They just made sure to keep her away from actual customers. They needed her decorating skills, not her personality. That was fine by Shaw.

The store Shaw was working at was highly esteemed and went by the name _Toy Castles_. It always made it in New York’s top magazines for the holidays. Sometimes, it even made it in some holiday movies. A large part of that was due to the decorations.

The other half was that all the competition went out of business.

Most people didn’t buy toys in stores anymore if you thought about it logically. Online shopping was taking over but if you got creative with your thought process, well, some things didn’t add up. That’s what Root told her anyway. Shaw didn’t really care about the details and she never bothered to ask.

So, here Shaw was, a grown woman dressed as an elf with a hat and pointy ears that she had to glue on every morning. She needed to keep this cover no matter how much she hated it.

Shaw cut out another paper gingerbread man. It stuck to her fingers.

“Shi-”

“Hi, Shaw.” A man interrupted. He joined her and stood by her side, reaching for the second pair of scissors to cut out paper candy canes at the workstation.

“David.” Shaw acknowledged him and kept working. He was the only employee that she could stand. She actually liked working with him and they both respected each other’s space. If only everyone was like that. He reminded her of Reese.

This whole situation could be worse. She could work at the store permanently. She knew she was only going to be here for a few more days. She hoped. That thought was the only thing that made this bearable.

“Hey, how are my two favorite elves?” The front end manager walked in. His elf costume was more elaborate than theirs with a shiny gold tag labeled “Leon” proudly pinned to his chest.

The two of them barely acknowledged him as he came in draping his arms around Sameen’s shoulders and awkwardly attempting to do the same with David but failing because of his height. “Only one week until Christmas!”

It took all the self-control Shaw had to not punch him. Instead, she shot him a warning glare. “Right,” He stopped acting chummy and got the hint.

She couldn’t believe Root got Leon on this mission too. This was the first time she had worked with him and she wished it would be the last. She never wanted to see him again after this.

“What do you want Leon?” Shaw said between her teeth.

“Doors are opening at eight o’clock. We wouldn’t mind you in the back stockroom, Shaw.” He said with a gulp.

“That’s alright with me,” Shaw said.

“Um, one more thing. Santa is going to be here at ten and we need some elves to stand by his side at the North Pole. I was hoping maybe you’d be interested?”

“No.” She wasn’t going to be a babysitter and she wasn’t going to listen to Leon. He definitely wasn’t going to fire her or tell upper management. They were both on this job to find a number, a Dylan Marks who has failed to show up so far. The little details of a retail store weren’t going to get in the way.

“Right, I’ll just get back to work. Uh, David, we need the candy canes hanging over the registers. Can we get you over there before the doors open?” He directed his attention over to her co-worker. Shaw immediately tuned out.

Figuring the conversation was over, she took her gingerbread cutouts from the table, moving to the front of the store.

Toy Castles was impressive, the front windows were fully made from glass, the windows stretching from floor to ceiling. As per tradition, the glass was almost completely covered with Christmas decorations. Shaw put the gingerbread men in the empty spots. She peered through the glass across the street. A coffee shop with equally giant glass windows was directly across.

Root was on the other side.

Shaw lost focus on the gingerbread men. Root had been visiting the same table since Shaw first started working at the toy shop. Every morning had gone the same since then. Sameen would hang up decorations in the front window and Root would gaze across the street at her.

This was irritating, Root didn’t tell her why she needed to work here. She just told her to wait. The days kept on dragging on and Shaw’s patience kept getting shorter.

Today, Root was wearing a dress. Her coat was hanging on the back of her chair and her hands glided expertly across the keys of her keyboard. Shaw had no idea why Root was so dressed up. It was almost Christmas and it was freezing in New York. Not that Shaw was complaining anyway, she didn’t mind the view.

Root looked up at Shaw, she smiled smugly while picking up her drink and biting her straw seductively. Root attempted a wink and failed spectacularly. Shaw looked at her blankly, immediately feeling a bit of irritation and something else that only Root got out of her.

To say Root was annoying was an understatement.

It only took a second for the moment to end. Root’s attention was brought back to her laptop. Shaw watched her get back to work while she finished hanging the gingerbread men. The day was about to start.

“Hey, are you about done over there?” An employee caring keys walked to the front door. She was about to unlock the store.

“Yeah,” Shaw said, finishing getting the last decoration in place.

Families and parents were starting to line up at the door. Not wanting to be in the middle of a _Jingle All the Way_ situation, she finished quickly.

Shaw was starting to learn that parents were the worst demographics of people she ever had to deal with. They’d bite, scratch, and claw their way to get a cheap plastic toy. Shaw wasn’t even allowed to punch them. Fortunately, she’d be spending the day in the stockroom. She made her way towards the back of the store.

The doors to the store opened. Shaw could hear kids and parents in the main building as she went through the first shipments and opened the new boxes with her box cutter. More decoration materials came in last night. Fresh-cut Douglas Fir branches filled the box. The aroma was unmistakable but it always made her sneeze. They were meant to be turned into fresh wreaths. She started to get to work.

The rest of the day was like this. More boxes and more branches turned into misshapen Christmas wreaths. The day was completely uneventful. Shaw clocked out in frustration, her hands sticky with tree sap.

“Only six days left until Christmas.” Lean reminded her again as she walked out of the store.

>>>

That night Sameen scrubbed her hands for an extra five minutes in the shower. It felt as though the tree sap would never come off. She gave up and turned off the water. It was late, she was hungry, and her apartment was welcoming but devoid of food. She’d have to go back out again.

She exited out of her bathroom door in a tank top and boy shorts, towel drying her hair.

“Hi, Sameen,” Root was sitting on her bed with her laptop open.

“Can’t you knock?”

“You were busy so I let myself in.” Root looked up from her work, she lifted up a brown paper bag that was at her side, “Someone told me you didn’t eat.”

“If it doesn’t have extra mustard, I’ll kick your ass.”

“Don’t worry, I know what you like,” Root said with a grin.

Root’s double innuendo wasn’t lost on Shaw and she rolled her eyes, taking the bag from Root’s grip. She sat down next to her on the bed, pulling out the sandwich. They had become accustomed to this when Root was in New York. Shaw stopped kicking Root out and Root stopped destroying her locks. Root stole a key instead and Shaw never asked for it back.

“What’s this?” Shaw pointed to Root’s laptop after she pulled back the wrapping to her sandwich. It looked like bank statements.

“I’m working on something with your current employers.” Root scrolled down on her laptop. It looked like the statements went back for several years.

“Why do you have me there? The number I’m after isn’t at that hell.”

“Patience, Sameen. You know holding off always has a great reward.”

“Shut-Up.” Shaw took a large bite of her sandwich. She didn’t press the subject of the number again.

Root continued to work at her side and quickly, Shaw’s sandwich was gone. Taking out a bag of chips, Shaw opened the bag with a rustle and a pop. She tried to make sense of what Root was working on but all she could figure out was what she had first seen. Toy Castles was making a large amount of money but it wasn’t from toys.

“There is another bag of chips in the bag, can you get them out?” Root asked.

“Uh-huh.” Shaw dug in the brown paper bag and pulled out some Cheetos.

They ate their chips in silence as Root worked.

Eventually, Shaw got bored and she pulled back the covers to her side of the bed. She faced her back towards Root and fell asleep. She’d have another long day at the toy shop tomorrow. Hopefully, it would be more interesting than hanging up decorations and making wreaths.

>>>

Four days passed. Nothing happened that was worth noting. It was no surprise that Shaw wanted to strangle someone more than normal. What made it worse was that she was having a particularly bad morning. It might have been because she dropped her bagel on the sidewalk as she walked to the toy shop. The day was already shaping up to be horrible.

Shaw walked into the back to clock in.

“Psst, Shaw,” A voice came from the distance as Shaw clocked in. She knew who that voice belonged to. Leon was hiding behind a potted plant between the vending machine.

“What do you want Leon?” Shaw really didn’t feel like dealing with him.

“I need your help,” His voice sounded shaky.

“You want me to ask David for your lunch money back?” Shaw said sarcastically.

“What?” He looked confused for a moment, “Yes… um, but there is something worse.” He got out from behind the plant and looked both ways down the hall before continuing, “Follow me.”

Shaw had no idea what he was up to but if it was anything to make her day exciting she was up for it. They walked to the break-room and the employee lockers. No one else was in the room. Most of the employees were already out on the sales floor or the back stockroom.

“Leon, what the hell is going on?” She watched him as he stopped at his locker and looked around the room cautiously again.

“Don’t judge okay, it’s not mine,” He said and opened his locker slowly. He pulled out a large paper bag and opened it for Shaw to see.

Several bags of cocaine were inside.

“What the hell?” Shaw looked back up at Leon.

“It’s not mine I swear,” Leon closed the paper bag. He practically threw it back inside his locker and clasped the lock in a hurry.

“Who gave you that?”

“David,” Leon said in a whisper, “He wants me to deliver it to this address on Christmas eve.” Leon handed her a note with an address on it.

“Why do you get all the fun?” Shaw replied as she read the address.

“Fun?” Leon started in a harsh whisper, “This isn’t fun. David said something about proving my loyalty but I don’t want to prove anything. He said if I told anyone he’d kill me.”

“When did this start?”

“When David stole my lunch money the first time… and when Laney stole it the second… and-”

“Okay, I get it. You have gullible written all over you.” Shaw handed Leon back the note with the address, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I tried!” Leon’s voice raised. He quickly clasped his hand over his mouth.

“Okay, fair. I’m going with you to the address so stop freaking out. Who else is involved in this?”

“Practically everyone at the store,” Leon took a deep breath in.

“Why didn’t I hear about this?”

“Because they’re scared of you!” Leon started to walk away from his locker. He still looked uneasy.

“Okay.” This was understandable. It also made sense where the toy store was getting all its money.

“Okay-okay, I need to get out of here now. Get back on the floor and act as if nothing happened. They’re not going to kill me right? Or am I going to get arrested and sent to jail? I’m too handsome for jail. I’ll be fresh meat, it’ll be a mess! What if I die? I don’t want to die on Christmas,” Leon started rambling.

Shaw walked behind him and let him continue his speech. He needed to get the energy out and she wouldn’t have to listen to him again when she went to the back stockroom.

Her bad mood was starting to lift. Finally, something interesting was happening.

>>>

“You can’t have me going in there alone,” Leon clutched the brown paper bag to his chest. It was the night of Christmas eve and nothing was stirring on the street. A dark and ominous apartment complex loomed over them in a shady part of the city. He was there to deliver the contents of the bag.

“I’m only a call away,” Shaw said as she pointed at her ear. They both had an earpiece so they could communicate with each other.

“But what if it’s a trap?”

“I’ll bust you out of it.”

“You sure?”

“Leon,” She gave him a glare.

“Yeah, sure,” Leon gulped, he hesitated for a moment, “Where is the tall guy and the dog?” He asked, cracking the car door.

“Another number,” Shaw said. Honestly, she would have preferred working on another number herself.

“Oh...” Leon mumbled, “I like working with them better.”

“We can agree on something,” Shaw said under her breath as he exited the car door.

She watched him enter the building and disappear behind the entrance. Shaw didn’t like being on the sidelines but this was the best she could do. She took out her DSLR camera and pointed it at the apartment complex.

Taking several photographs, she really couldn’t get a focus on anything interesting. She had Leon take his phone and leave it recording in the inside pocket of his jacket. Hopefully, he can capture some audio that would be useful to whatever Root was working on. With her camera, Shaw was unable to capture anything of interest.

For now, all Shaw could do was wait.

The car was starting to get cold, he had been in the building for a while. It might have been a mistake sending him alone. He wasn’t trained like her or Reese and he wasn’t even a police officer like Fusco. This might have been a mistake. Shaw picked up the camera and tried zooming in on the windows again.

_Bang!_

A noise that sounded like a door slamming came from her earpiece.

“Shaw, I think I messed up!” Leon’s voice was heard. It was obvious that he was panicked.

“Where are you?” Shaw was on alert, her adrenaline started kicking in. She had been waiting for this moment for a long time.

“Second floor. Come quick!”

Shaw jumped out of the car and rushed towards the building. She knew what apartment room he was in. Second-floor third room to the right, she rushed up the steps of the apartment building. The door to room 204 was slightly cracked. She drew her USP Compact, slowly entering the apartment with her handgun drawn.

She didn’t know what to expect.

The apartment was completely bare of any furniture or decorations but that’s not what stood out. A tall man was standing in the center of the living room.

“Oh, so you are a snitch.” The man spotted her entering the room.

Shaw couldn’t tell who he was because his face was covered in a ski mask but she recognized his voice and his build.

The man was David.

“Shaw, wait!” Leon was in the corner of the room. His hands were up with his palms up at his sides. David had a gun pointed at him.

“Quiet, snitch!” He yelled at Leon.

“David, I know it’s you.” Shaw got closer to him. She didn’t lower her gun.

“Damnit, I knew you weren’t a decorator,” David said, he kept the gun pointed at Leon.

“Are you working alone?” Shaw asked. The whole situation was tense. Shaw knew that any wrong move would set David off.

“I’m not answering your questions,” David shifted uncomfortably, “If you get any closer, I’ll shoot.”

“Wait!” Leon said, he backed away as far as he could until he hit a wall. “I know you were ordered to do this from mister toy master himself. The guy who owns Toy Castles, right?”

“Shut-up,” David growled at Leon.

“No, I know this is how you start this whole drug thing. You take some easy people off the street, pay them minimum wage in New York but then offer them big money to sell some drugs so they won’t go homeless.” Leon continued.

“I said, shut up!” David was getting even more agitated.

Shaw kept the gun pointed at David. Shaw realized that Leon was an easy mark but he wasn’t a coward. She let him continue without intervening.

“This was the test? You give them the drugs and see if they deliver it back to you? What do you do if they fail, do you kill them?” Leon asked.

“That’s right, this is a test, I guess you’re sharper than you look. I’ve never had this before though,” He pointed at Shaw, “ Didn’t even know you two were friends. Guess, I’m going to have to kill you both.”

“No, wait!” Leon yelled.

Shaw only had time to react, everything after this point was a blur.

Three gunshots went off. With a thud, two bodies hit the floor.

>>>

Tree sap clung to Shaw’s fingers for the last time. She tried towash it out with shampoo in the shower. It was late, Shaw had another long night that was stretching into the early morning.

It hadn’t been a bad night.

Shaw walked out of her bathroom towel drying her hair. She was in a tank top and boy shorts. The night was almost the same as every other night but this time she didn’t have to worry about going back to the toy shop the next morning.

“Hey stranger, Merry Christmas” Root was sitting on Shaw’s bed. She was messing with Leon’s phone and wearing an ugly sweater and pajama pants.

“Is it Christmas?”

“It’s past midnight, sweetie,” Root smiled, “Ready for a present?”

“I hope you brought food,” Shaw ignored her.

“Don’t worry Sameen, I brought some take-out.”

Shaw grinned, she was starving and Root always seemed to know what she was in the mood for.

“I’ll take that phone back to Leon tomorrow. He won’t even notice it’s gone. He’s too busy poking at his new bruise,” Shaw sat down next to Root. They opened the Chinese takeout and started splitting up the food.

She was glad that Root suggested that Leon should take a bulletproof vest. He hid it under his large winter coat and after the events of the last several hours, she didn’t really hate him. He had earned her respect. In the face of danger, there weren’t many people who would take a bullet. He fared better than David, who would need knee surgery for two busted kneecaps.

“You know you could have just sent the audio file to me as an attachment.”

“So?” Shaw didn’t really care, “Did you get all the information you needed?”

“I think so.” Root picked up a wallet that had belonged to David. She pulled out a driver’s license with the name Dylan Marks. It had David’s picture on it, the photo ID revealing his real name.

“I guess David was the perp,” Shaw shrugged. That was too bad when they were working together, she actually liked him. Although, he was probably trying to keep his head down. It made him less annoying compared to everyone else but he was just trying to not bring attention to himself.

“Too bad it’s over. I’m going to miss you in that elf costume.” Root smiled.

“If you mention me wearing that one more time-” Shaw trailed.

“Yeah?” Root raised her eyebrows.

“I’ll kick your ass,” Shaw stared at Root and angrily stuffed some sweet and sour chicken in her mouth. She wanted to forget that elf costume ever existed.

“Oh, sounds fun.” Root smiled and took a bite of her own orange chicken.

They ate in silence, enjoying each other’s company. Outside it started to snow. This was one of the better Christmases Shaw could remember having in a long time.

**~FIN~**


End file.
